India's Zee Entertainment rises on report of potential merger deal with Sony

Hong Kong Economic Times Holdings

03/12/2021 04:39

** Shares of media and entertainment co  ZEE.NS  up as much
as 3.9% at 355.45 rupees, their highest since Sept. 23     
    ** ZEE on track for third straight session of gains and
fifth consecutive weekly gain 
    ** Co and Sony Pictures Entertainment are set to sign a
binding merger agreement before Christmas, within the pre-agreed
90-day exclusivity period, the Economic Times report https://bit.ly/3lxytqded
    ** ZEE, Sony did not immediately respond to a request for
comment from Reuters 
    ** Agreement will seek to address some of the concerns
raised by shareholder Invesco, especially those regarding Zee's
founding family's future holdings in the merged company, the
report said 
    ** More than 10 mln shares traded by 0430 GMT, 0.5 times
their 30-day avg of over 19 mln shares
    ** Fourteen of 20 brokerages rate the stock "buy" or higher,
5 "hold" and 1 "strong sell"; their median PT is 396.50 rupees
    ** As of last close, ZEE had risen 53.1% this year,
outperforming the Nifty Media index  .NIFTYMED  which had gained
35.1%

 (Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru)
 ((ramavenkat.raman@thomsonreuters.com; https://twitter.com/ramavenkat0607;))